Printed Publics

SFMOMA’s long history of connecting Bay Area artists and art-publishing presses continues with Printed Publics, the museum library’s look at printed matter being produced by local artists and designers of today.
These publications play with the structural elements of the book, the page, and new and old printing tools to create new work. Central to the idea of publication—literally embedded in the word—is a “public,” and Printed Publics examines publishing as a means of community building, information sharing, and collaboration.

Many of the works presented here can be handled and flipped through, offering visitors the unique opportunity to interact with artworks in an intimate and personal way. Through these books and magazines, independent publishers necessarily develop creative, informal methods for small-scale distribution of their projects, offering new spaces for conversations about their practices. Printed Publics also highlights the SFMOMA Library’s continued engagement with local publishers in building the collection at the museum.

Organized by David Senior, Head of Library & Archives

Participating publishers:
Sming Sming Books, LAND & SEA, Eggy Press, Jessalyn Aaland/Current Editions, Visible Publications, Mitsu Okubo, RITE Editions, no place press, Colpa Press, NIAD Art Center, RE/Search Publications, Floss Editions, The Black Aesthetic, Tiny Splendor, [2nd floor projects], Publication Studio SF, Most Ancient, Stripe SF, David Wilson, TBW Books, Wolfman Books, Night Diver Press, illetante collective & Barbara Stauffaucher Solomon.

Activities in the Koret Education Center are generously supported by the Koret Foundation.